Apparatus for making bottom in soaking pits



Aug. 5, 1958 T. ENGSTROM ETAL APPARATUS FOR MAKING BOTTOM IN SOAKING PITS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 2, 1956 I 35 mos ENGSTROM and FRANK 4. RICE, 5 flm0 Am Meir Al/arney.

T. ENGSTROM ETAL APPARATUS FOR MAKING BOTTOM IN SOAKING FITS Filed Feb. 2, 1956 Aug. 5, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 /N VENTORS. THOR ENGSTROM and FRANK L. RICE, /&mM// 5 Adamo their Attorney.

' 1958 T. ENGSTROM ET AL 2,846,090

APPARATUS FOR MAKING BOTTOM IN SOAKING PITS Filed Feb. 2, 195a s Sheets-Sheet 3 7 35 35 INVENTORS.

THOR E/VGSTROM and FRANK L. RICE,

BYY Amid/2p fiAdzh Meir Attorney United States Patent APPARATUS FOR MAKING BOTTOM IN SOAKJNG PITS Thor Engstrom, Gary, Ind., and Frank L. Rice, Auburndale, Fla., assignors to United States Steel Corporation, a corporation of New Jersey Application February 2, 1956, Serial No. 563,043

13 Claims. (Cl. 214-18) This invention relates to bottom making apparatus for lining the floors of ingot soaking pits with coke breeze and, more particularly, is directed to a container which is specially designed for the purpose of laying a coke breeze bottom on the floor of a soaking pit. In a manner to be described, the apparatus of this invention expedites the making of soaking pit bottoms in that it eliminates troublesome pit crane maneuvering operations incident to conventional bottom making practice and in that only a single trip of the pit crane is required to transport the coke breeze from a storage bin to the soaking pit.

In the making of bottoms in an ingot soaking pit, coke breeze is spread over the floor of the pit to a depth of from 12 to 16 inches. The coke breeze for this purpose is commonly transported to the pit in a cylindrical bucket which is suspended from the ingot tongs of the pit crane. When positioned over the pit, the bucket is rotated and moved along the pit by the crane while its contents are being discharged to spread the coke breeze over the floor of the pit. The distribution of the coke breeze in this manner is very irregular and leveling by dragging the bucket or a spade or other tool, usually suspended from the ingot tongs, over the surface of the coke breeze bottom is generally necessary. This requires considerable skill on the part of the crane operator and frequently results in damage to the refractory pit walls from accidental contact with the bucket or spreading tool. In addition, it is usually necessary for the crane to make several trips to supply the coke breeze required for making bottom and the pit cover must be removed for each delivery of coke breeze by the crane and charging bucket. The frequent removal of the pit cover is a source of considerable heat loss during the replacement of pit bottoms. One of the objects of this invention is to provide an apparatus for laying coke breeze bottoms in ingot soaking pits which eliminates the necessity of crane maneuvering operations for spreading coke breeze over the floor of the pit and which renders a single trip of the crane from the coke breeze storage facilities effective to supply the coke breeze required for bottom making.

A further object of the invention is to provide a container which can be handled by the pit crane to transport coke breeze to an ingot pit and which can be op erated while supported in a stationary position on the pit walls to distribute coke breeze over the floor of the pit.

Another object of the invention is to provide a coke breeze container which can be operated from a stationary position supported on the pit walls to uniformly distribute its contents over the floor of the soaking pit in a manner which requires a minimum of leveling of the surface of the coke breeze bottom after emplacement.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a coke breeze container adapted to be supported in a stationary position on the walls of a pit while its contents are being discharged with closure doors and operating instrumentalities for moving the doors to open position 2 which are rendered operative in response to movement of the container to its supported position on the pit walls.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a coke breeze bottom making container of the character referred to with a horizontal partition in the form of a door closure means for dividing the container into upper and lower compartments each of which is adapted to contain and distribute the coke breeze required for making one-half the bottom in a rectangularly shaped soaking pit.

In a container of the character just referred to, this invention has as an additional object the provision of a novel arrangement of operating mechanism for actuating the discharge doors for the upper and lower compartments to their open positions which includes means responsive to emplacement of the container in a stationary position supported on the pit sidewalls for rendering the discharge door actuating mechanism operable.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description.

In the drawings, there is shown a preferred embodiment of the invention. In this showing:

Figure l is a side elevational view showing the container of this invention in a position supported on the walls of a soaking pit in which it is rendered operative to lay a coke breeze bottom on the floor of a soaking pit which is shown diagrammatically in transverse section;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the container shown in Fig ure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged and detailed side elevational view of the container shown in Figures 1 and 2, and in which parts thereof are broken away and shown in section to illustrate the construction of the door closures and operating mechanism therefor;

Figure 4 is a plan view of the container with its lifting frame removed; and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line VV of Figure 1.

In Figure 1 of the drawings, the refractory sidewalls 1 and floor 2 of an ingot soaking pit 3 are illustrated diagrammatically with the apparatus of this invention in a position supported on the walls 1 for operation to lay a bottom 4 of coke-breeze on the floor 2. Such apparatus comprises a container, designated as a whole by the numeral 5, and a lifting frame, designated as a Whole by numeral 6. In a manner to be described, the lifting frame 6 controls the bottom laying operation of the container 5 and for this purpose is mounted for vertical movement relative to the container 5 from the position illustrated fragmentarily in dotted lines to the position shown in solid lines. The frame 6 occupies the relative position shown in dotted lines when it is used to lift and transport the container 5 and, in such position, closure means of a character to be described cannot be operated to discharge coke breeze from the container 5, such closure means being rendered operative in a manner to be described by movement of the lifting frame 6 to the relative position shown in solid lines.

The container 5 has a rectangular shape defined by sheet metal sidewalls 7 and endwalls 8 which are reinforced by structural reinforcing members. The reinforcement for the Walls of the container 5 includes a supporting framework comprised of spaced side channels 10 and transversely extending end beams 11. This framework forms a support from which the container 5 is suspended when it is lowered to a position with its end beams 11 resting on the upper ends of the pit Walls 1. In Figure 2, the broken line 9 designates the contour of one end of a soaking pit the other end of which has a similar contour and, from this showing, it will be noted that the dimensions of the container 5 are such that it substantially covers one-half the area of the floor 2 when supported by the beams 11 on the pit walls 1 as shown in Figure 1.

As best shown in Figure 3, the interior of the container 5' is divided into four vertically extending compartments 12 by a centrally located partition plate 13 and a pair of partition plates 14 which are respectively arranged centrally of the partition plate 13 and one of the end walls 8. The partition plates 13 and 14 are parallel to each other and extend transversely of the space between the container sidewalls 7. The bottom of each compartment 12 has a sheet metal door 15 which in closed position has sealing engagement with stationary flanges 16 welded to the walls of the container and its partition plates. A pair of hinges 17 at the bottoms of the plates 14 mount the doors 15 for pivotal movement between open and closed positions. Each of the hinges 17 provides a common pivotal support for the doors of the two compartments 12 on opposite sides of each partition plate 14 and about which such doors pivot in opposite rotational directions between their open and closed positions. The doors 15 and their mounting hinges extend over the entire length of each compartment 12. By reason of this arrangement of the pivot hinges 17 and the connections of the doors 15 thereto, coke breeze is discharged from the compartments 12 in the direction indicated by the arrows in Figure 1 onto the center and edge portions of the pit floor 2 upon movement of the doors 15 to their open positions. The coke breeze thus deposited will flow over the floor 2 and its surface will have a trough-like configuration with the bottom 18 of each trough lying under one of the door hinges 17. This trough-like formation of the bottom 4 provides a desirable feature in that it aids the crane operator in placing ingots in the soaking pit and furnishes an improved bearing support for ingots which have rounded bases by reason of having been cast in molds with worn stools.

The lifting frame 6 is comprised of side channels 19 and end channels 20 which are welded together at the corners and a mounting assembly, designated as a whole by the numeral 21, for a lifting head 22. The lifting head 22 is a casting having diametrically disposed pairs of openings 23 at its upper end for the reception of the tong bits 24 of ingot tongs 25 suspended from a soaking pit ingot crane (not shown) which has conventional provisions for vertically moving and rotating the tongs 25. The head 22 is rotatably supported in the assembly 21 which is comprised of a casting 26 having an inwardly extending annular flange 27 defining a circular opening through which the upper end of the head 22 projects. The casting 26 is secured to the frame 6 by channels 28 extending transversely of the side channels 19 and which have their ends secured to the side channels 19 by underlying channels 29. A pair of channels 30 extending between the side channels 28 completes the mounting for the casting 26 on the frame 6. The lower end of the head 22 has an outwardly projecting annular flange 31 which is arranged between the flange 27 and a plate 32 bolted to the lower end of the casting 26 in such manner that the flange 27 and plate 32 permit limited vertical movement of the lifting head-22-relative to the casting 26. When the crane tongs 25 are operated to lift the frame 6 and hold it in the position shown in Figure 3, the flange 31 engages and imparts an upward lifting force to the flange 27 and thereby to the frame 6. When the lifting head 22 is lowered by the tongs 25, the head 22 moves downwardly relative to the frame 6 to a position as shown in Figure 5 in which clutch elements 33 depending from the lifting head flange 31 project through an opening in the plate 32 for a purpose to be described.

As indicated above, vertical movement of the lifting frame 6 relative to the container 5 between the positions shown respectively in Figures 1 and 3 controls opening and closing movement of the doors 15. This control by the frame 6 is effected through two pairs of rods 35 arranged respectively at opposite ends of the container 5 and a pair of rods 36 arranged centrally of the container sidewalls 7. The upper ends of the rods 35 project through openings in the channels 19 and 20 at the corners of the frames 6 and have nuts 37 threaded on their ends for limiting their movement relative to the frame 6. The rods 36 project through openings in the flanges of the channels 19 and 29 and similarly have nuts 37 threaded on their upper ends for limiting their vertical movement relative to the frame 6. The lower end of each rod 35' is connected with one end of a chain 38 which has its other end connected with an outer corner of a door 15 for one of the end compartments 12. Each of the center rods 36 has its lower end connected to one end of each of a pair of chains 39 the other ends of which are connected with adjacent outer corners of the doors 15 for the two central compartments 12. When the lifting frame 6 is in the position shown in Figure 3, the rods 35 and 36 and the chains 38 and 39 are effective to hold the doors 15 in their closed positions. When the lifting frame 6 is lowered to the position shown in Figure l, the rods 35 and 36 and the chains connected thereto move downwardly thereby permitting the doors 15 to pivot to their open positions. Return movement of the lifting frame 6 to the position shown in Figure 3 is of course effective to pivot the doors 15 to their closed positions. Channels 40 welded to the sides of the container 5 provide housings for guiding the vertical movement of the rods 35 and 36 and the door operating chains connected therewith.

A second set of doors 41; when in closed position as shown in Figure 3, provides a horizontal partition for the container 5 which separates each of the compartments 12 into an upper compartment 12a and a lower compartment 12b. The doors 41 for the end compartments 12 have hinges 42 on the container end walls 8 which mount such doors for pivotal movement between open and closed positions. A hinge 43 carried by the center partition plate 13 provides a common pivotal support for the doors 41 in the two central compartments 12 and about which such doors pivot between open and closed positions. The doors 41 when in closed position have sealing engagement with flanges 44 which are similar to the flanges 16 and are welded to the walls of the container and its partition plates. The doors 41 and their mounting hinges 42 and 43 extend over the entire length of the compartments 12. The arrangement of the hinges 42 and 43 for the doors 41 spaces such hinges laterally with respect to the hinges for the doors 15 whereby pivotal movement of each of the doors 41 to open position is in an opposite rotational direction compared to the pivotal movement of an underlying door 15 to its open position. In this manner, the doors 41 and 15 baflie the downward movement of coke breeze through the compartments 12a and 12b.

As best shown in Figure 5, each of the doors 41 has three lifting lugs 45 secured to its outer edge and to which operating chains 46 are'connected. The upper ends of the chains 46 are connected with a common chain 47 which is reeled over a pulley 48 keyed on a shaft 49. By reason of the arrangement of the hinges 42 and 43, the outer edges of the doors 41 in closed position are adjacent one of the partition plates 14 and their operating chains 47 and pulleys 48 are arranged in pairs on opposite sides of the partition plates 14. Between each pair of pulleys 48, a bearing 50 for the shaft 49 is mounted on reinforcing flanges 51 at the upper edges of the partition plates 14. The upper edge of the center partition plate 13 is recessed to provide space for mounting a gear transmission drive housing 52 which is supported on reinforcing angles 53. The drive housing 52 contains a worm gear 54 which is driven by a worm pinion 55 on a vertical shaft 56 having an operating clutch 57 at its upper end. When the lifting head 22 is lowered to the position shown in Figure 5, its clutch elements 33 move into driving engagement with the clutch 57 so that rotation of the head 22 is effective through the gear transmission for the shaft 49 to rotate the pulleys 48 and thus move the doors 41 between their open and closed positions. When the lifting frame 6 is elevated by the crane tongs 25 relative to the container 5, the clutch elements 33 and 57 are disengaged so that rotation of the lifting head 22 is ineffective to impart movement to the doors 41.

The location of the horizontal partion means provided by the doors 41 and their mounting hinges 42 and 43 relative to the sides of the container is preferably such that the compartments 12a when filled to their upper edges 58 will contain sufficient coke breeze to cover an underlying area of the pit floor 2 to the desired depth. By reason of this arrangement, the compartments 12a act as a measure for charging the required amount of coke breeze into an underlying compartment 12b. When the container 5 is transported to the coke breeze storage facilities and placed on the floor, the doors 15 will be held in their closed positions by engagement with the floor and the lifting frame 6 will be lowered to the relative position shown in Figure 5 to engage the clutch drive elements 33 and 57 for the doors 41. If the doors 41 are open at such time, the crane will be operated to rotate the lifting head 22 and move the doors 41 to their closed positions. After filling the compartments 12a with coke breeze, the doors 41 are moved to their open positions to discharge coke breeze from the compartments 12a into the underlying compartments 12b. The doors 41 are then returned to their closed positions and the compartments 1212 are again filled with coke breeze after which the container may be transported to an ingot soaking pit. When the container 5 is picked up by the ingot tongs for transportation to the soaking pit, the lifting frame 6 is elevated to the position shown in Figure 3 and holds the doors 15 in their closed positions.

Upon arrival at the soaking pit, the container 5 is placed in position over one end of the soaking pit as shown in Figures 1 and 2. With the end beams 11 supported on the sidewalls of the pit, movement of the lifting frame 6 to the position shown in Figure 1 releases the doors 15 for movement to their open positions and the coke breeze in the compartments 12b is discharged onto the floor of the soaking pit. This operation covers one-half the area of the soaking pit fioor with a coke breeze bottom 4 as described above. The container 5' is then lifted by the ingot tongs 25 and moved to a position supported by its end beams 11 over the other end of the soaking pit. The lifting frame 6 is then lowered to engage the clutch elements 33 and 57 and upon operation to move the doors 41 to their open positions, coke breeze in the compartments 12a will flow, downwardly through the compartments 12b onto the floor of the soaking pit. The doors 15 direct the discharge of coke breeze from the compartments 12a. onto the floor of the soaking pit in the same manner as from the compartments 12b. The coke breeze bottom 4 deposited by the latter operation on the floor 2 of the soaking pit thus has a surface contour which is the same as that first deposited thereon.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the container 5 of this invention enables making of a coke breeze bottom on the floor of a soaking pit by a single trip from the coke breeze storage facilities. In this respect, it will be further apparent that the provision of the second set of doors 41 eliminates the necessity of a second trip of the container to the coke breeze storage facilities. In efiect, the horizontal partition means provided by the doors 41 enables the container to be operated to cover a floor area of twice the area defined by its sidewalls 7 and 8. Although it is preferred that the container 5 be provided with a second set of doors for the reasons given above, it will be understood that the second set of doors 41 and operating mechanism therefor may be omitted, and that the use of such containers are contemplated according to the principles of this invention.

While one embodiment of our invention has been shown and described it will be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. An apparatus for laying coke breeze bottoms in ingot soaking pits comprising a rectangular frame having spaced side members and transverse end members for supporting engagement on the sidewalls of a soaking pit, a rectangular container arranged between and suspended from said frame side members, said container having a horizontal cross sectional area of about one-half the area of the soaking pit floor, closure means at the bottom of said container comprising a plurality of parallel doors respectively having a pivotal support for movement between open and closed positions about axes extending transversely of said side members, and means operable for simultaneously moving said doors to their open positions when said container is supported by said frame end members over the floor of a soaking pit.

2. A soaking pit bottom laying apparatus as defined in claim 1 characterized by said closure means comprising four of said doors arranged in pairs, the doors in each of said pair being pivotal about a common axis spaced inwardly from an end of said container.

3. A soaking pit bottom laying apparatus as defined in claim 1 characterized by the provision of horizonal partition means dividing said container into a pair of vertically spaced upper and lower compartments, and said partition means including door closure means operable to discharge coke breeze from said upper compartment into said lower compartment.

4. An apparatus for laying coke breeze bottoms in ingot soaking pits compn'sing a rectangular frame having spaced side members and transverse end members for supporting engagement on the sidewalls of a soaking pit, a rectangular container arranged between and suspended from said frame side members, spaced parallel partition members respectively extending transversely of the sides of said container and dividing it into four vertically extending compartments, a plurality of doors respectively forming a closure for the bottom of one of said compartments, each of said doors having a support for pivotal movement between open and closed positions about an axis extending transversely of the sides of said container, and means for operating said doors simultaneously to their said open and closed positions.

5. A soaking pit bottom laying apparatus as defined in claim 4 characterized by said doors being arranged in pairs and with the said supports for each of said pairs being a common pivotal support at the lower end of one of said partition members.

6. A soaking pit bottom laying apparatus as defined in claim 4 characterized by each of said compartments having a partition door pivotally supported for movement between open and closed positions and operative in its closed position to divide one of said compartments into upper and lower portions, and means for operating said partition doors simultaneously to their said open and closed positions.

7. A soaking pit bottom laying apparatus as defined in claim 6 characterized by the partition doors in the end ones of said vertical compartments respectively having a pivotal connection adjacent one of the end walls of said container and the remaining ones of said partition doors having a pivotal support on the center one of said partition members.

8. A soaking pit bottom laying apparatus as defined in claim 4 characterized by said doors being arranged in pairs and with the said supports for each of said pairs being a common pivotal support at the lower end of one of said partition members, and each of said compartments having a partition door pivotally supported for movement between open and closed positions and operative in its closed position to divide said compartment into upper and lower portions, the partition doors in the end ones of said vertical compartments respectively having a pivotal connection adjacent one of the end walls of-said container and the remaining ones of said partition doors having a pivotal support on the center one of said partition members, and means for operating said partition doors simultaneously to their said open and closed positions.

9. An apparatus for laying coke breeze bottoms in ingot soaking pits comprising a container having door closure means at the bottom thereof, horizontal partition means dividing said container into upper and lower compartments, said partition means including door closure means operable to discharge coke breeze contained in said upper compartment into said lower compartment, a lifting frame for supporting said container during transporting movement thereof, means mounting said lifting frame for vertical movement between upper and lower positions relative to said container, and means operative in response to movement of said lifting frame to said lower position for independently operating each of said door closure means.

10. A soaking pit bottom making apparatus as defined in claim 9 characterized by the operating means for said partition door closure means comprising a gear drive and clutch means for operating said drive including a pair of clutching elements respectively having a rotatable support on said container and said lifting frame, said clutching elements being movable into operative clutching engagement with each other in response to movement of said lifting frame to its said lower position.

11. An apparatus for laying colre breeze bottoms in ingot soaking pits comprising a rectangular container, spaced parallel partition members respectively extending 8 transversely of the sides of said container and dividing it into vertically extending compartments, a plurality of doors respectively forming a closure for the bottom of one of said compartments, a plurality of partition doors respectively arranged in and dividing each of said compartments into upper and lower portions, each of said doors having a hinge mounting it for pivotal movement between open'and closed positions, a lifting frame for supporting said container during transporting movement thereof, means mounting said lifting frame for vertical movement between upper and lower positions relative to said container, and means responsive to movement of said lifting frame to said lower position for controlling the movement of said doors to their said open positions.

12. A soaking pit bottom laying apparatus as defined in claim 11 characterized by said lifting frame responsive means including connecting means extending between said frame and the outer edges of each of said bottom doors for holding said bottom doors in their said closed positions when said frame is in said upper position and for releasing said bottom doors for movement to their said open positions in response to movement of said frame to its said lower position.

13. A soaking pit bottom laying apparatus as defined in claim 11 characterized by said lifting frame responsive means including means for operating said partition doors simultaneously between open and closed positions comprising a pair of clutching elements respectively having a rotatable support on said container and said lifting frame and disposed thereon for movement into operative clutching engagement with each other in response to movement of said lifting framc'to its said lower position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

